Castañeda

Castañeda is a locality in the province of A Coruña, Galicia, on the Camino Frances between Boente and Ribadiso. The village holds a unique place in the history of the construction of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela: medieval pilgrims who had picked up a piece of limestone at Triacastela, over 100 kilometres earlier, would deposit it at the lime kilns here, where the stone was burned to produce the lime mortar used in cathedral construction.

The name means chestnut grove, and the surrounding landscape retains the chestnut trees that gave the locality its identity. The custom of carrying a stone from Triacastela to Castañeda was documented in medieval pilgrimage guides as a meritorious act that contributed materially to the building of the destination itself.

For pilgrims today, Castañeda marks the completion of this symbolic journey within a journey, the stone-carrying tradition connecting Triacastela and Castañeda in a tangible link between the route and its destination.